Alteryx Connect Ideas

Hi Alteryx Team,

Can you please add PDF or Word Download Option for Glossary Definition Term in Alteryx Connect. 

Thanks

Sri

We are moving our measure specifications that are in a PDF format to the Connect glossary.  We would like to keep the formatting that exists in the PDF when copying the spec.  However, the format doesn't always copy over.  It would be nice to have the 'Format Painter' option similar to what is in MS Word where you can copy the format from one line to another line.

We found out that we are able to setup Nexus modes in global config settings.

We can distinguish modes by relationship types and object types. It is nice.

We would like to distinguish Nexus setting by object’s location as well (to show/hide objects in diagram by their location).

For example to show terms from one folder and to hide terms from another.

We ask you to make possibility to setup Nexus to filter out objects by their location.

The addition of the On-Premise PowerBI loader is very beneficial. The current loader grabs PBI workspaces, workbooks, dashboards, and database connections all important to the PBIX files. It would also be an huge benefit if Connect could capture Paginated Reports (RDL file extension) information. 

Thank you.

Jason Melik

Hello Alteryx team,

Can you please includeSAP Crystal Reports loader in the Connect for Future Release.

Thanks

Sri

Our Data Catalogue in Connect has about 2 millions items (tables, views, columns).

I see next issues:

1. We collect metadata from about 10+ DBMS. So after each Metadata loader run, Alteryx Connect will start load_alteryx_db script and process whole staging area (DB_*) tables, not only current extracted metadata set from single DBMS. It will lead huge redundancy.
2. Follows from first issue: One-by-one comparison of loaded metadata will take a lot of time in real environment with 1-2 millions items (ordinary situation in large Bank). And this comparison will be executed several times. It will increase the redundancy in the number of DBMS servers.

3. All queries in this script containing column or table name as a parameter (e.g. src.TABLE_NAME='${query_table_name}' AND                                 src.COLUMN_NAME='${query_column_name}') will be executed as many times as number of columns in Data Catalogue (millions times). It will work very slow because it executes a lot of queries.

Can you optimize somehow this process?

We use Connect widely among hundreds of users. During a lot of concurrent sessions Connect begin to work slow and unstable.

It is nice to have high workload detection - to warn users about potential problems/instability/slow response (either by email or via some banner at the Home page).   

Please add possibility to sort and filter by any field in any asset, which has internal table. For example - column list in table, table list in schema. Or in "Used in " widget. as for now - sort operation is only applicable for name field. it is not convenient for long lists. 

Hello Alteryx Team,

We would like to be scheduling the loaders from the administration console, Connections tab. However, when scheduling from there, the loaders are being sent to the Alteryx Gallery under low priority and therefore can easily end up in a queue. As we are scheduling a number of loaders that run for a significant amount of time, it is essential to have the schedules set on precise times and have a certainty that they will not end up in a queue. However, the low priority in the Gallery prevents us from doing that.

It would be great if there was a priority switch directly in the Connect's Connections section, where it would be possible to select how prioritized should the loaders be in the Alteryx Gallery. Also a possibility to select a specific worker would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you very much for considering this idea.

Regards,

Jan Laznicka

It would be very useful to have a standard metadata loader for chained workflows or apps.

Currently the Crew Macro Conditional runner or the Alteryx Event/CMD based workflow/app chaining or the chaining from interface designer do not have a corresponding metadata loader. 

At the moment the only option of creating a nexus for chained apps or workflows is to manually create the links between various assets and workflows. This can be highly tedious depending on the number of workflows/apps being chained, inputs and outputs involved in each workflow and also error prone.

This creates a sort of blindspots in terms of end-to-end metadata management and showing true lineage when using chained Alteryx apps/workflows.

As the chaining of workflows and apps is a major timesaver and helpful tool to break down larger jobs into smaller manageable jobs it would be massively useful to have a corresponding metadata loader.

Many thanks,

Gourab

Version upgrade of metaloaders gets difficult when customers change or add tools to already complex metaloader workflows.

Please better support customer customization by placing macros in the metaloaders at critical points

• just after data input
• just before data output

These macros would do nothing except pass data in and out

with the intent that customers build these out as they need to improve the resulting data catalog.

Most customer modifications could fit within limits of what these macros could do.

It would be easier to upgrade version when most often it only required replacing entire macros that had been modified.

The improvement would be worth the nominal impact on performance.

Where performance is a problem, un-customized macros could be removed.

.

Hello Alteryx Team,

Would you consider creating a metadata loader for SharePoint? A lot of companies that we are working with have a lot of data stored in SharePoint and they would like to catalog their metadata.

I am aware that it is possible to use the Files Loader when the SharePoint drive is mapped as a mapped drive in Windows Explorer, but the mapping and subsequent scheduling is very problematic, also because of security policies in large enterprises.

Having a SharePoint dedicated loader would be a great benefit.

Thank you very much for considering this idea.

Regards,

Jan Laznicka

The Alteryx Connect loader (found under help / sample workflows etc...) is set up to be run in interactive mode as an analytical app.

However; on any installation of a reasonable size - these loaders will be scheduled to run without user intervention.

Given the fact that Analytical Apps are not easy to schedule (given the interactive nature of the inputs) - it makes sense to provide a version of the loader that is ready out-the-box to be scheduled and run hands-free (built and tested as a yxmc file).

Many thanks

Sean

Hi Alteryx team,

Would it be possible to add functionality to restrict selected Designer users/licenses Input Data tool to only show a Connect source/file?

This would remove the risk of users investigating data through Designer that they are not be entitled to, and could be used to support/strengthen a data governance/compliance model by ensuring users are only using vetted data, but still gives each user freedom to self-serve and create their own workflows.

Thanks for considering,

Andrew.

Hello Alteryx team,

would it be possible to include a switch between All Projects and Top-Level Projects views when looking on a Tableau site in Alteryx Connect?

For many users, the navigation in Tableau is through the 'Explore' tab and then Top-Level Projects view rather than All Projects. This reveals the real tree structure of the specific Tableau site. In Alteryx Connect, currently, there are always all projects listed when looking at a specific site, so also sub-projects.

The hierarchical structure is already brought in, when opening a workbook, the route includes both projects and sub-projects. The idea is that there would be a switch between the 2 views when looking at a site.

Thank you very much for considering this idea.

Regards,

Jan Laznicka

Hi Alteryx team,

Would it be possible to implement custom URL in the HDFS loader when using Knox Gateway? This could be implemented in the same way as in the normal Input Data tool.

When connecting to HDFS using the Input Data tool, the URL is automatically generated, however, it is possible to change it. Sometimes this is necessary as the 'sandbox' part of the URL is for some companies not applicable, they have for example their company names instead of it:

However, in the Alteryx Connect HDFS loader, this is not possible as there is no such field in the interface:

The 'sandbox' part of the URL is then automatically brought through 2 formula tools:

This makes it impossible to load the HDFS metadata into Connect using the out-of-the-box Alteryx loader. Implementing a field into the interface like in the standard input data tool would solve this problem.

Thank you very much for considering this idea.

Regards,

Jan Laznicka

Hi Alteryx team,

It would be great to have a loader for Azure HDInsight. I am aware that there is a loader available for HDFS but a lot of companies are migrating to HDInsight.

Thank you very much for considering this idea.

Regards,

Jan Laznicka

Hi Alteryx team,

It would be great if it was possible to load SAP HANA systems using ODBC DSN instead of the normal host name.

From our experience, there is often more than 1 node present for SAP HANA systems and when entering the master node into the loader interface, we can't easily switch to a failover node when an unexpected event happens. Sometimes, it is not only the matter of nodes but for example a migration of an instance to cloud might result in a different host name. As a consequence, the loadcode is different and it is not possible to migrate the previous enrichment to the asset pages created under the new loadcode.

A solution for this would be the possibility of loading SAP HANA systems using the ODBC DSNs (this is already possible for example for Hive and it would be great if it was available for all applicable systems).

Thank you very much for considering this idea.

Regards,

Jan Laznicka

Hi Alteryx team,

In Connect, users are able to open workflows, open reports (like Tableau) or use data source in a workflow using the blue button on an asset page. With the new functionality of cataloguing APIs, would it be possible to implement this button for API endpoints as well, meaning users would be able to trigger the API directly from Connect?

Thank you very much.

Michal